Hydrangea transplanting in NC

hhiiiDecember 21, 2009

I am in charlotte NC and last monday was able to dig up a large mature Hydrangea. it was a quickie dig last minute and ended up spliting root ball in 1/2 cut it back a bit and put it into my garage, roots exposed etc. due to lack of time it is still in my garage hoping to not freeze. So going on 7 days exposed will it make it? being dorment I assume it is to cold to put it in ground... my thought was to get burlap or a plastic bag with soil wrap it up till spring and out into ground. is it worth the effort at this point? again I am in nc and we are getting 20's at night and mid 40's in the days...

Is your soil frozen? If not, go ahead and plant in the ground. While dormant, deciduous shrubs and trees are very adaptable to/tolerant of transplanting and the plant(s) would be much happier in the ground with the roots protected from cold and able to access moisture than it would be stored as-is in your garage.

If the soil is frozen....and that's not often a concern in zone 7.....then go ahead an pot up the shrub using your plastic bag method or a large nursery container. Check periodically to make sure the soil surrounding the roots is just barely moist to the touch -- you may have to water occasionally. And store in protected location where the temperature is not going to fall much below freezing. Roots are the most vulnerable parts of a plant to cold and can suffer irreparable damage if exposed to severe cold without the benefitting insulation of the ground.